The Russian MI-8 helicopter was shot down in the Syrian province of Idlib with fire from the ground on the way to the Hmeymim air base after delivering humanitarian aid to the city of Aleppo.
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The helicopter came down near the town of Saraqeb, in Idlib province, roughly mid-way between Aleppo and the Russian air force base at Khmeimim, near the Mediterranean coast. Three crew and two officers from Russia’s Reconciliation Center died, according to a Kremlin statement.
All five people in the aircraft were killed, according to the Kremlin.
Rudskoi said the Nusra Front, a former Syrian branch of al-Qaida that last week renamed itself the Fatah al-Sham Front and ended its formal affiliation with the global jihadist network, was one of the groups controlling the area of the incident.
Monday’s helicopter downing was the deadliest for the Russians since Moscow began carrying out airstrikes in Syria in support of Assad’s forces last September.
Tuesday’s deaths brought the total number of Russian forces killed in Syria to 18.
Syrian opposition activists said intense fighting was still ongoing in Aleppo on Monday. A Russian helicopter has been shot down by rebels in Syria’s northern Idlib province, Russian officials say, reports BBC.
The Syrian government has declared a general amnesty for rebels who surrender to government authorities within three months.
“I’ve heard some local sources where the [Russian] helicopter was downed speaking of the possibility of MANPADs – shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missiles – being used in that context”, he said.
The monitoring group, which tracks violence across Syria, said pro-government jets had bombed rebel-held Khan Touman in the southern countryside of Aleppo, and opposition fighters had shelled government-held parts of central Aleppo overnight.
According to some estimates, as many as 470,000 people may have died in the war.
The rebels are trying to break through a strip of government-controlled territory in the hope of reconnecting their area of control in the west of Syria with the encircled sector of eastern Aleppo.
“The regime can take a detour from the north but it is harder and more risky”, he added. Rebel groups are staging an offensive to try to break the siege.
The assault coincided with the opening by Russian Federation of eight humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians and fighters seeking to leave eastern Aleppo.
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On Saturday, Moscow and Syrian official media reported dozens of civilians had fled via the corridors, but residents and rebels on the ground dismissed the reports as “lies”.
